Friday, May 28, 2010

Now that I've uploaded this, I see a huge problem with this second one: the bottom right foot. I made it a stump! I totally missed that defining line on the inside of the leg. He's supposed to be slightly pidgeon-toed, and instead I made him have a deformed half-foot thing. Yikes!!

Man, the meds they put me on for my tooth really packed a whallop. I tried to go into work yesterday and wound up getting so sick I upchucked. Which kind of sucks, because I really need the hours.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Old cartoonists can pull off improper English in the best ways. No one else has license to language like these guys.I did this in someone else's basement tonight, and I feel like I'm committing a faux pas if I stay on here for too long. I took a few little liberties in this one though, especially on Fagan's hands. Not sure if it worked out or not. The dog's arm/hand aren't perfect, looks sort of squished and wimpy. I also evened out some of that lovely asymmetry on the cheeks. No bueno. I feel like the face is clearer than in yesterday's panel, though.

Monday, May 24, 2010

I love this page of Eisenberg's. This is actually the last panel of the page (you will see more as I study them) but I loved it so well that I had to draw it first.

Thoughts:

The detail is handled masterfully and reigned in by sensible hierarchy. The shingles and wood grain on the well are controlled by keeping them wrapping the form, but are full of life because they're asymmetrical, organic. They are not in equal rows; notice the extra shingle on the bottom left! I wonder if he drew the shingle to the right of it too small and needed to fill a space. Either way, it's great and works just fine. The wood is also organic, and has some lovely little details, but it's never distracting.

Things made of brick and stone are usually intimidating, but Eisenberg handles it like a pro-- not every stone needs to be drawn. They're the smooth, well-worn, old, and organic types of rocks people used to build things instead of ugly fake bricks. It looks worn and fun to touch. They hug the outside, and of course wrap around the form.

The bucket is a nice touch, and works as part of the well's overall form. It really contrasts nicely with the delicate tree that frames the left side and adds interest. The tree's in silhouette, too, so white it's very delicate, it's nowhere even resembling distracting.

Fagan himself is a beautiful pose! I was attracted to it immediately. I love how he sits in the middle of that perfect circle of a motion line. It's a pose you're not terribly prone to seeing in newer cartoons. It's so round and exaggerated. No one ever kicks back that far. You can tell exactly what has just occurred.

Even Eisenberg's speech bubbles are great. I love how they're cloudy, just for the sake of fluorish. It's also nice since it's in the sky, it almost doubles as a cloud at first blush. The composition has a lot of yummy places for your eye to travel to.I wound up rounding out some of Foxy. His hand is the most noticeable. His upper body also seems evened out, puffed a bit, even. I dug the details in too far, mostly because I had to erase them a few times when I was struggling with the face. At first I missed the angle of his brow. I rounded out some of the contrasts, and ate up some of the space. Hopefully I can focus more on that in the closer compositions of the page in the future.

I just noticed, too, that the right side of the well tapers off in the wrong way. It should have more mass leaning to the upper right.

ALSO: I discovered a 5B pencil. I'm used to working with harder ones. Anyway, it's fun and you don't need to press as hard (something I need to force myself out of doing). I'm gonna look into getting even softer pencils, soon, if I can scrape together the cash.

Friday, May 21, 2010

A very nice coloring book page! I have no idea who the artist was, though. If any of you experts out there could tell me, I'd be grateful. Anyway, so I had a print of this image, and decided to take it on. I'm out of practice, but it was fun to balance all of the elements. I decided to use this page to practice for some more Eisenberg drawings I want to do-- Eisenberg's backgrounds are wonderful, and I wanted to feel more confident before taking them on.

I like studying these coloring pages and comic covers because they're so clear, big, and appealing. I imagine that the originals were larger than their actual prints, as I do for a lot of comic drawings, which makes detailed areas tend to get murked up in my copies-- places like faces, in particular. Bugs' face here is a little distorted, but I had to eventually just settle for some decreased contrast and shifted angle (namely the cheek on the right side) because eventually it just gets too muddy to keep erasing/redrawing.

When I really get into these, I get very obsessive... and by the end I'm too tired to talk about them much, without a bit of distance!

I forgot to draw Porky's shadow, woops! It was a nice detail, because it grounded him (which is relevant for the image's narrative).

It's interesting to see where the artist breaks/distorts perspective. Note also that the vertical fenceposts are askew, adding some good ol' wabi-sabi to the image, preventing it from being deadened by perspective.

Perspective is interesting. It's beautiful, adds solidity and structure, but taking thoughtful license to it can really make an image feel more organic, cartoony, fun. If that gate to the left had all been in perfect perspective, it would look much more... well, wooden.

I de-fluffed Bugs' tail. I also drew myself into a bit of a corner with Porky's hand that is touching the star, possibly because, in retrospect, I too greatly exaggerated portion of the star that frames it. The artist did exaggerate perspective a bit on the bottom of the star, but I let it get a little out of control.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

I was attracted to this image because of its line of action. I printed it to copy at some point, and just studied it tonight.

The line of action was a little bit muddled. I attempted to exaggerate it by making his head a little lower, but I think that threw off the proportions a little (note the foot and... musketeer-poncho-thing). It also resulted in a less flowy pose. I want to grasp lines of action better, mine always seem to get lost.

I reduced his chin, and his eye makes no sense, really. I also ballooned out the top of his musketeer-poncho-thing.

I want to do more drawings tonight, and then after my optometrist's appointment tomorrow. I need to learn how to structure my days off, now, so that they are full of disciplined study.

Friday, May 7, 2010

My graduation ceremony is tomorrow. I didn't really want to do the ceremony thing, but it's important to my mom, and she's a good lady. Anyway, just posting to say I will be busy for the next several days, visiting my grandmother in Virginia.

Then, when I get back, I have no idea what's goin' on. I want to devote myself to slavishly practicing, while keeping my part-time job and hopefully digging for freelance work.

I've decided to start practicing and portfolio-building for Disney's talent development program. I figure, why not? My stylistic interests aren't really very well suited for contemporary Disney, but after three years of work I will certainly be good enough for something. It's a goal, and it's a goal that doesn't require me to go to school any more (yuck). Besides, I can't start changing the industry unless I weasel my way inside of it (right?)

I also would really like to set up a nice, devoted workspace. I'm saving for a Cintiq, which would really make animation practice a heck of a lot easier. If you want to help me reach this lofty goal, feel free to get in touch for any work you might have for me. Commissions are fun.

Anyway, I want to be back in a week, and then get on the ball with this again. No dopey school to get in the way, this time.

This is a Study Blog

This blog is devoted to STUDIES of the traditional cartoon. Most ideas on here are not mine (characters, poses, etc.)-- this is a blog about learning new things about classic cartooning. While I am proud of my work posted here, I can't take credit for the ideas.

I owe a lot to my mentor, John K. He is a great teacher, and many of these studies also use his drawings as a starting point.